


Ocean Eyes

by AlleyMichaelis



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Hurt Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan, Kaishin Big Bang 2020 (Meitantei Conan), Kaitou Kid Heist (Meitantei Conan/Magic Kaito), Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Phantom Thief-Typical Absurdity, Post-Black Organization Takedown (Meitantei Conan), Post-Conan Kudou Shinichi, Slow Burn, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25676779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyMichaelis/pseuds/AlleyMichaelis
Summary: “Come on Detective, you should know.” KID crossed his arms. It looked weird using Ran’s body. Conan’s brain tried furiously to find out the meaning behind the thief’s words. He came out empty handed. “How about this, what am I to you?”Not a heartbeat later, Conan answered truthfully. “A pain in my ass.”After their first meeting at the failed Black Pearl heist, Kaito realizes he found his soulmate, even if he isn’t too happy about said soulmate being a child. Conan, on the other hand, doesn't have time to deal with soulmates when he's got a murderous organization out for his blood. But even upon Shinichi's return, misunderstandings and a sudden curse prove to be a challenge to their bond.
Relationships: Hakuba Saguru & Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid, Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan & Mouri Ran, Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid
Comments: 52
Kudos: 570
Collections: kaishinbigbang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank my wonderful beta [CobaltCephalopod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltCephalopod/pseuds/CobaltCephalopod). I gave her so much work, I'm so sorry.  
> Also, thanks to [haruyukihana](https://haruyukihana.tumblr.com/post/625375343631613952/from-ocean-eyes-written-by-karlamichaelis-this) for letting me use her idea! The gorgeous art you see below is hers, so go give her some love, she deserves it.
> 
> The story is set right after episode 76, when Conan and Kaito first meet at the hotel's rooftop.

What kind of heartless being would wake a child at an ungodly hour after he went to bed at almost two in the morning?

Apparently, Ran would.

To be fair, she didn’t know Conan had stayed up that late, and he _did_ have to go to school. Normally she would come upstairs to wake him up, but she was still cooking breakfast and already running late for school; so instead of doing her usual, nicer routine, she shouted _very_ loudly at the boy to wake him, the kind of shout that made the whole house tremble. Conan sat on his bed, forcefully alert, heart racing and eyes heavy with sleep _. Maybe he shouldn’t have run away in the middle of the night to go to KID’s heist_ , he thought bitterly, rubbing his eyes to chase the sleep away. It wasn’t like it had done any good anyway, KID got away and didn’t even seem bothered by the fireworks Conan had initially thought were a smart move. It was the first time he met the thief, but Conan had naïvely thought he could do what the police hadn’t been able to and catch him.

Conan yawned for the millionth time that morning. It seemed the world was trying to tell him that today would be a shitty day. He barely slept last night, he couldn’t drink coffee because apparently _children can’t do that_ (go figure), and Ran had a test that morning so she left early for school, which meant he had to walk alone. Great.

He zombie-walked to school and all but slumped onto his desk. What a shitty morning. He crossed his arms over the desk and hid his head to cover his eyes from the light. Perhaps he could sneak in a quick nap before class started.

“Good morning, Conan-kun!” Ayumi called, probably more excited than should be socially acceptable so early in the morning.

“Late night?” Conan could hear the smirk in Haibara’s voice.

“Morning.” he sighed, resigned to getting no sleep before class started and completely ignoring Haibara’s remark. Conan sat up, back joints cracking in response. Ayumi gasped, peering at him in shock. "What?" he asked, brows furrowed at her.

It wasn’t uncommon for kids to crack their back, right?

“Your eyes!” Genta and Mitsuhiko were suddenly mere inches away from his face, wearing matching expressions of morbid surprise and curiosity only children could have. Conan instinctively reached out to his right eye. It didn’t itch so it probably wasn’t an infection, maybe they were red because of his sleep deprivation?

“Here, take this.” Ayumi offered him a pocket mirror. As soon as Conan looked into it, horror gripped his heart.

His right eye was a different color.

Well, not exactly. It was still very much blue, but it also was very much the wrong shade of blue.

What the fuck?

He glanced sideways to Haibara. The girl was reading a magazine and had lost all interest in her friends' doings. The kids were still mere inches away from his face, watching his right eye as if they could make it change back with sheer force of will.

“Were you abducted?” Mitsuhiko questioned, dead serious.

“Don’t be an idiot, aliens aren’t real.” Genta scowled at his friend. Under any other circumstances, Mitsuhiko’s baffled expression would’ve made Conan laugh.

“They are!”

Knowing that they weren’t going to leave it alone until he came up with a credible excuse, he tried to figure out a way out of this mess, but he was as lost as the kids were. And a tad bit more fracked out.

Okay, way more freaked out. But now was not the time for that.

“Oh, it’s just a colored lens.” he lied, slipping his hand under his glasses to rub the offending eye. “I thought it looked cool.”

As expected, Ayumi immediately agreed. The two boys laughed nervously.

“It doesn’t.” Genta said. Both Ayumi and Mitsuhiko hit Genta on the head.

While they bantered about Genta’s manners, Conan glanced at Haibara. She was as quiet as usual. She’d be more interested if it was a side effect of the drug, right? But then again, she hardly told him anything, drug related or otherwise. Perhaps she knew this kind of thing happened from her mice trials and didn’t bother to warn him.

If it was a side effect, it wouldn’t be wise to walk around with a different eye color. If the Black Organization knew about this side effect (which they probably did) and he ran into them again, they would know his identity in a matter of seconds. He might as well wear a sign reading ‘Hello I’m Kudo Shinichi, please shoot me’.

His glasses kept his eyes concealed from everyone who didn’t get too close. After school he walked home with Haibara. He would have a hard time explaining his sudden heterochromia to Ran. She would get suspicious again and he really, _really_ didn’t need that before he came up with a plan.

Haibara was obviously aware of his distress if her smirk was anything to go by. The little shit.

“We’re home.” the girl called once they were inside the professor’s house, dropped her bag by the door, and went straight to the kitchen. Agasa looked up from his computer.

“Oh Haibara-kun, how was school?” He did a double take on the newcomers, surprise on his features “Shinichi? What a surprise!”

“I visit often.” he grumbled, taking the annoying glasses off and jumping to sit on the couch. Agasa laughed, pleased.

“Anyway, how’s everything at the agency? How’s Ran?”

“Ran’s fine. I actually have a favor to ask.” Agasa made a noise indicating him to go on, so he did. “Could you make me some colored contacts lenses? Or lens to be precise, I suppose one would do.”

“Why do you need that?” Agasa was still at his desk with his computer, so he couldn’t see the change in his eyes. It wasn’t that noticeable, not from afar, since they were both still blue.

“Because he found his soulmate.” Haibara emerged from the kitchen with a tray, the same insufferable smirk still on her face. Agasa peered at him, stunned.

“Soulmate?” Shinichi repeated with clear dismay, at the same time as Agasa stood up from his chair and said something along the lines of ‘why didn’t you start by that?’ The old man walked towards Shinichi and stared at him mere inches from his face. One would think he’d be used to it by now, but he wasn’t. He squirmed under the professor’s gaze until a few moments later Agasa retreated, a big smile in his face.

“This is great news, Shinichi! Tell me how it happened. Wait, no, why do you want to hide it? Is it because of Ran? I always thought the two of you would end up together, apparently that’s not the case. Who is it by the way? Someone I know?”

Haibara took pity on Conan’s baffled expression and answered in his place.

“Kudo doesn’t know about soulmates.” She poured three cups of coffee and gave one to each of them. Conan was too preoccupied to appreciate or offer thanks for the warm beverage in his hands. They both drank from their cups expectantly and sat on the love seat opposite from his. He felt like a child being given _the talk_.

“…What do you mean soulmate? I thought it was a side effect of the drug,” he asked carefully after a moment, taking his first sip. As if on cue, the professor laughed and Haibara sneered.

“A side effect doesn’t take that long to appear. You could have asked me.”

“You wouldn’t have answered.” He scowled. The girl had the decency not to deny it and shrugged with an indifferent expression. She was probably there just to make fun of him.

“It doesn’t happen often, studies say everyone has a soulmate but not everyone manifest it in a physical form. I never thought I would meet someone else who would, especially not you.” Agasa held his chin, deep in thought. Conan tried to decide if he should be offended by that. “For the people who do, what happens is that upon making eye contact with your soulmate for the first time, the color of your right eye changes to the original color of your soulmate’s eyes. It’s weird that you didn’t knew considering your parents are soulmates.”

Deciding to focus on the last part, Conan answered, “How could I know? Their eye color is too similar.”

“Well, Kudo, do you have any idea who your soulmate could be?” Haibara asked, disinterested but ready to mock him.

“I don’t even know when it happened.” He lied, arms crossed and sinking further into the couch. He was a detective, it took him less than a few seconds to get the window of time where he probably made eye contact with his supposed soulmate (definitely after pretending to go to bed before the heist last night, or Ran would’ve noticed, and before getting to his classroom). So, somewhere around 10:30 pm and 8:15. He scoffed “And even if I did, I hardly believe my _eyes_ decide who I’m meant to be with. It makes no sense.”

Suddenly, he blanched as a horrific thought came to his mind.

“What if my soulmate is a _kid_?” He panicked.

“You are a child too,” Haibara, helpfully, added.

“I’m seventeen!”

“Semantics.” The girl took another sip of her cup to hide the smirk on her lips.

Agasa got to work on the contacts as soon as Shinichi stopped panicking over the possibility of his maybe soulmate being a child. Ran called earlier in the afternoon to ask about Conan’s whereabouts, but he couldn’t leave without the contacts or Ran would ask questions he didn’t want to answer.

He left right after sunset, a little plastic container and a bottle of saline solution in his backpack, and the resolution to _not_ think about said soulmate. Even if he believed in it (which he didn’t) he barely had time to seek out the one who stole his eye. He had bigger things to worry about, like the upcoming heist at the Suzuki party; he’d be damned before he let KID steal the Black Pearl.

* * *

The heist was weird. He knew the moment KID disguised as Ran, but let it happen since it was the best way to keep the thief in check. Things got weird when they were alone. KID kept staring at him as if waiting for something.

“What?” he asked, unable to keep his curiosity at bay.

“Nothing, it’s just that you’re a _sight for sore eyes_ , Tantei-kun,” KID said meaningfully, except Conan _didn’t know_ what the meaningful part was. “Talking about eyes, contacts are annoying, wouldn’t you say?”

Feeling dread creep up his back, he answered, “I wouldn’t know.” How much had KID stalked him, exactly? Did he follow him home after that first failed heist? Had he seen him walk to Agasa’s house and come out with new contacts?

“Sure you wouldn’t.” KID smirked mockingly. When Conan didn’t answer, KID furrowed his brow. A hint of disappointment crossed his eyes for a fraction of a second.

“Come on Detective, you should know.” He crossed his arms. It looked weird using Ran’s body. Conan’s brain tried furiously to find out the meaning behind the thief’s words. He came out empty handed. “How about this, what am I to you?”

Not a heartbeat later, Conan answered truthfully. “A pain in my ass.”

Shinichi might be terrible with emotions, but even a blind man could notice the doubt and slight hurt behind his mask. KID winced like he had just been stung and changed his weight to the other foot. “Right.”

Shinichi had the feeling he had just made a horrible mistake. He tried to ask what he was missing, but the words got stuck on his tongue when KID mentioned leaving Ran naked in a lifesaver boat.

The thief disappeared after that.

The next time they saw each other, Conan had long forgotten about their little conversation.

KID never brought it up again.

* * *

The little kid at the hotel was his soulmate.

His soulmate was a child.

Kaito’s soulmate was a fucking _child_. And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t panic for a good few days, ever since Jii-chan pointed out his soulmate was a lucky lady mere seconds after he got into the car after the heist. Except he saw no lucky lady, the only person (tiny as he was) he made eye contact with was the child. A very weird, extremely clever child.

And he might be a child, but he was still Kaito’s soulmate, and he’d be dammed if he didn’t look him up. A weird child indeed, who hardly acted like a child, had the biggest crush ever on his _big sister_ , and appeared out of thin air a few months back.

From there, it didn’t take him long to connect the dots. While he was researching (not stalking) the Mouri girl to disguise as her for the actual heist, he dug around a little and discovered the identity of her childhood best friend and teenage crush, who oh so casually disappeared at the same time Conan came to life: Kudo Shinichi.

So, a bright side and a not so bright side: The former, his soulmate was not an actual child. The latter, his teenage ( _thank god_ ) soulmate somehow had a child’s body. Why? He had no idea.

And okay, maybe he was disguising as Mouri to get an insight into Con- Shinichi, and yeah maybe he sort of wanted to feel what it felt like to have his soulmate have a crush on him, so what? Sue him. The kid would definitely see right through him, so it’s not like he was doing something _bad_ , the only thing he wanted was a chance to talk to his soulmate, a detective nonetheless, who by this time was sure to have figured out they were soulmates.

The child was wearing contacts which, okay, made sense since it was pretty uncommon and he was probably undercover. The thing that made Kaito’s heart ache was the indifference with which the detective spoke, not unlike their first meeting, if not somewhat angrier at the prospect of a naked Ran.

Perhaps his expectations were too high, but weren’t soulmates supposed to at least show a little bit of interest in each other? The only interest the detective had in him had its grounds in seeing him behind bars. And that stung. He had read about soulmates refusing the bond, or even refusing to recognize it _existed_.

Was Kudo so disappointed in him he’d rather forget about the bond? No matter how much he hinted at their eyes, the little boy never acknowledged it.

Kaitou KID started wearing contacts after that night. Brown ones. He figured if he was going to wear them, he might as well take the extra precaution to hide his identity.

If Kudo didn’t want to acknowledge their bond, Kaito would not be the one to bring it up.

Skip a few months, and Kaito found himself longing for the few heists the little detective would attend. The kid was too bright for his own good, and it had been ages since Kaito had had a good rival. Maybe he started planning a few heists specifically for the little detective, maybe he tried to amuse him the best he could during said heists, and maybe he sent a few doves to watch over the child and report back to him should something out of the ordinary happen.

But who could tell, really.

Conan never spoke of the ‘soulmate situation’ (as Kaito started calling it to himself), and neither did he. Still, they became friends. Kaito sent on occasion a few glitter bombs —which were strategically placed inside the little detective’s backpack by his doves— and exploded in his face when he opened it at school. Conan, in return, left fish tanks in his escape routes (how he noticed his fear of finny things remained a mystery). Before either of them realized a new bond between them came to life, one born of the understanding of living a double life, rather than one dictated by destiny. Kaito didn’t bother to feign surprise when the child confessed to him he was actually the great teenage detective.

A little more than a year later, Kudo Shinichi’s big reappearance made the papers.

Kaito’s first thought was something among the lines of why the fuck hadn’t his doves reported that.

* * *

Shinichi did not miss his time as Conan. Sure, being a kid had some advantages (like the lack of responsibilities) but he would take anything if it meant being himself again. Being Kudo Shinichi again was great, people would actually listen to him on cases, he no longer had to pretend to be interested in basic algebra, he could live alone again, and most of all he did _not_ have to worry anymore about the Black Organization putting a price on his head.

He had few regrets, most of them involved Ran and the loss of what could’ve become a relationship if things had not gone the way they went. As it was, Shinichi could never not see Ran as his sister. The girl took it hard at first, but she eventually warmed up to him again and their friendship carried on stronger than ever. Other than that, the only thing he missed from being Conan was the title he earned as the local KID expert. He only went to heists when Kogoro was invited, mind you, but once he was there the detectives in charge let him have his way around, since he was the only one who managed to always see right through KID’s magic tricks.

It had been a few months since he got his body back, he had not been to a heist since. Shinichi had no reason to go to a thief’s heist, nor had he ever shown any interest in thefts or Kaitou KID, therefore no one in Division Two had extended an invitation. All things considered; one could say he was baffled when he returned home after school one Tuesday afternoon only to find a heist notice lying on his pillow of all places.

“What the fuck?” he muttered to himself, dropping his schoolbag without care and picking up the envelope, marked with the distinctive KID doodle. His fingers hovered over the opening for an instant, before promptly tossing the whole thing in the trash.

The dove sitting on his window stool cooed angrily.

“What did you expect?” He rolled his eyes at the dove and forced himself not to feel foolish for even talking to the animal. The dove flew away. Shinichi went down the stairs to eat something, not preoccupied by the knowledge that the thief had obviously broken into his house.

He expected that event to be the end of it. Except next week he found a grand total of two heist notices. One on his fridge, and one in his shower. He tossed them out again, and the doves that _somehow_ kept hanging around his house, cooed angrily at him again.

Next week there were five letters. Three of them, on three different days, were found in his underwear drawer.

The week after, thirty doves followed him around all week, each with a letter tightly gripped in their beaks. Everywhere he went, the doves followed. And by everywhere, he meant _everywhere_ (who knew doves liked to shower?). Luckily, Kid had somehow trained the doves to not interfere with crime scenes, but he made up by training them to coo at anyone who got too close to him, even Ran. The same week, the heist notice for the police included a request for Kudo Shinichi to join them. Hakuba got in touch, Shinichi politely refused.

After two days, when it was clear the doves were not going anywhere, he went to the pet store to buy them something to eat. He was tired of sharing his breakfast.

The doves disappeared Sunday morning, the only two that remained were the ones who perpetually followed him at a distance ( _as if_ _he wouldn’t notice_ ) and delivered the first few notices. Shinichi knew they took turns stalking him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go to a heist. He was just curious as to how far they would take their little game. It turned out, he didn’t have to wait long. The week after the dove’s incident, the life of Kudo Shinichi would never be the same.

Shinichi loved Sundays. Inspector Megure had little respect left for his school life (mostly by his own request) but one thing he took seriously were weekends. He insisted Shinichi should be allowed to have the weekend off to hang out with his friends or catch up on homework. And thus, Shinichi always found himself with a free Sunday all for himself. His routine was precise and adequate; he woke up at nine am —a sensible hour for the laziest day of the week—made coffee, and proceeded to read a book the rest of the day.

Thinking back, he should have fled the moment a letter was slipped under his front door just when he exited the kitchen on his way to the library.

“There’s no mail on Sunday,” he muttered absently as he picked up the letter. Cold sweat forming on the back of his neck. The bad feeling he had was confirmed when he saw the Kid doodle on the front of the letter.

For a moment, he entertained the thought of getting a fireplace to burn all the letters he was sent. This train of thought was interrupted by another letter under the front door. And another. And another. In a blink, Shinichi had around twenty letters at his feet.

A coo called his attention. He looked up, trying to find the source of the sound. As soon as he saw the dove happily sitting on the open window on the second floor, he felt the same horror the victims of his cases must’ve felt when they were about to be murdered.

Like a wave breaking through a submarine’s window, a current of infinite letters made its way through his house and onto him. Letters rained from everywhere, like a scene straight out of Harry Potter. KID’s doodle proudly drawn on every single one of them.

When the letters finally ran out, Shinichi was bone deep in paper. His house was so full of them, only his head stuck up from the white mass of paper.

 _That’s it_ , he thought, infuriated. KID wanted him at his heist so bad? He’d go to the heist. He’d go and fucking put him behind bars once and for all.

After reaching that conclusion, he spent the rest of his free Sunday taking the letters out of his house. Shinichi was sure the doves laughed at him all the way.

* * *

A month ago, Hakuba made sure that if Kudo ever showed up to a heist he was welcomed. There was no way Kuroba ever saw this coming.

The thief was disguised as Nakamori. Hakuba saw Kuroba giving the inspector a pudding earlier in the afternoon and knowing him the pudding probably contained some sleep-drug of sorts, meaning the inspector would be naked and asleep somewhere in the building. Normally he wouldn’t hold back on that deduction, but today was a special day, and he had bigger plans than catching KID. Plans which happened to include one _extremely_ blushed and flustered thief. This was going to be a fun night.

Kudo called him last night to check if the invitation to the heist was still open. Whatever Kuroba did, he managed to spite Kudo enough to make him show up. Not that Hakuba was complaining, he had grown to be quite fond of the guy. That, of course, in addition to his master plan.

He noticed Kuroba’s crush ever since he saw him staring at Kudo’s picture on a newspaper shortly after his celebrated return, all wide eyed and open mouthed like one of those fishes he hated so much. So, when Kudo called, he knew he was in for a lot of fun.

Except he wasn’t expecting Kudo to have the same peculiar eye color combination that his friend did. He, as a detective, felt very ashamed he didn’t notice earlier. Everything made sense once he thought about it.

When Kudo walked into the place where the heist was due to happen, the first thing he did was say hello to Hakuba. Immediately afterwards he asked about the whereabouts of the Inspector in charge of the investigation. Thinking he could hardly point him towards the unconscious inspector asleep somewhere in the building, Hakuba pointed him towards Kuroba. 

Kudo made his way towards him, and from afar Hakuba got a malicious delight out of seeing Kuroba obviously trying to keep his so-called poker face on, even as his soulmate walked towards him.

Hakuba watched them talk. Kudo was probably introducing himself and asking details about the police distribution and plans to capture KID, not knowing he was talking with said thief himself. It didn’t take him long to deduce Kudo didn’t know they were soulmates.

After a while Kudo walked back towards him, probably to wait with him the few minutes before the heist started. Out of the corner of his eyes, Hakuba watched Kuroba sneaking out. Still, now was not the time to chase him.

He watched Kudo, considering silently until the detective squirmed somewhat uncomfortably under his watchful eye. Kuroba was probably watching them, if he hadn’t also bugged them. Two birds with one shot.

“If you ever need a wingman, do let me know.” He turned around. Kudo was confused, but Hakuba knew the thief would be flustered and embarrassed and that had been his goal all along.

He walked out of the building. He was not going to capture KID tonight; he might as well leave the two of them alone to talk.

Perhaps he would go back to London for a while.

* * *

As expected, KID showed up on the rooftop with a dramatic flip of his cloak. If he weren’t preoccupied with his plan to demand an explanation for _the incident_ (as Shinichi began to call it), he would’ve considered the similitude with their first meeting.

Shinichi was standing in front of the dummy KID prepared in advance for his escape, arms crossed and scowling. KID smirked, he didn’t look surprised to see him there.

“My, isn’t it a delight to see my favorite critic after all this time. What brings you here, Tantei-kun?”

“Quit the crap, you know why I’m here.”

“Do enlighten me.” KID still had that insufferable smirk on his face. Shinichi walked towards him; one step, two steps.

A soccer ball flew towards the thief’s face. It missed, barely, KID moved slightly to the right just in time to avoid being hit. Not losing a beat, Shinichi raised his wrist and shot a dart. That almost threw KID off, he yelped quite comically and instead of a graceful lean like he did before, he jumped clumsily to the side and almost lost his balance.

Shinichi grinned.

“Hey!” KID complained.

“That’s what you get. Harry Potter, really? You couldn’t think of anything easier to clean? Do you know how many trips to the recycling plant it took to get rid of all your letters?”

KID was very obviously proud of himself. His face was covered by the shadow provided by his hat, but Shinichi could practically hear the smirk on his face when he talked.

“Did you like it? I always pictured you more like a Hermione though.”

Shinichi snorted. “And who would you be?”

“I always fancied myself as a Ron Weasley. He’s funny and he gets the lady.”

“He is also a bit dim,” Shinichi remarked. KID chuckled, his fingers brushing the tip of his hat.

“We can’t all be as bright as you are, Detective.” Shinichi didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing. Not that he needed to, since KID kept talking. “I’m afraid I must go now. I expect to see you at my heists from now on. I haven’t run out of summoning ideas, you know?”

“Oh I’ll come. I’ll come to your heist if only to be the one to put you in a cell.” They both smirked; a challenge clear between them. KID jumped to the roof edge, the wind made his cloak fly dramatically around him, and the moon at his back projected his shadow over Shinichi.

“I’ll be waiting. Until next time.” With a flash of light, he disappeared.

It wasn’t until he was back at his house, staring at his bedroom ceiling, that he noticed that following KID’s Harry Potter analogy, _he_ was the lady KID wanted to get.

He blushed.

* * *

Hakuba got a text that night.

 _Y DIDNT U TEEELL MEEEE_ it read. Hakuba sighed, already texting a reply. He knew that bringing Kudo unannounced to a heist would provoke something like this, he just wanted to get some sleep though.

 _Tell you what?_ He played dumb.

_AND U KNOW????? HOOOW??_

_Know what?_

_DONT DO THAT HAKUBA ASSBUTT, I KNOW THAT U KNOW!!!!!_

_I don’t know what you’re talking about._

_ure really gonna make me say it arent u?_

_Yes._

_tantei-kun and i r soulmates_

_I knew it._

_i hate u_

_I knew that too._

_i wasnt expecting to see him, u know??? my doves never tell me anything important :(_

_You have doves following Kudo Shinichi?_

_that’s not the point_

_but yes_

_its weird cause i thought he didnt want me???? and then he walked in with my eye, you know??? talk about mixed signals_

And then, because he’s a detective, he couldn’t help but type.

_When exactly did you meet Kudo?_

_not important. u know whats important?? HES HOOOT_

Hakuba spend the next five minutes reading Kaito’s banter about Kudo’s supposed hotness. Kaito kept going, but tired of his friend’s bullshit Hakuba turned off his cellphone and went to bed.

* * *

A few days later, someone in Shinichi’s class found their soulmate. Or so Ran said, Shinichi hadn’t really noticed.

“You really are blind sometimes,” she said. They were having lunch on Shinichi’s desk. Sonoko was supposed to join them, but at the last minute she claimed to have something else to do, so they were alone.

“Firstly, I don’t care for gossip. Secondly, I don’t believe in soulmates, so why should I care?”

Ran pouted. Something flashed in her eyes and her expression morphed to one of careful blankness.

“But _you have_ a soulmate.”

Shinichi fell quiet. Soulmates were a sensitive topic for them, considering there was a time they were both enamored with each other enough to have Sonoko joke about them being married. After Conan, Ran didn’t really give up on her crush until she found out about Shinichi’s soulmate. Shinichi was grateful they were on the same page again, the just-friends page, even if it was because of something Shinichi didn’t really believe in.

“So they say,” he spoke after a while, taking a tiny bite of rice out of his bento box. He wanted to let the topic die. Ran however, was the most stubborn person he knew.

“Aren’t you a little curious?”

“Not really.”

Ran scowled. Shinichi sighed, and put his chopsticks down.

“You have this amazing gift, to know that out there there’s someone who is destined to be with you, and you don’t even want to know who it is?”

“I… have a few clues,” he said carefully, studying Ran’s reaction. The girl was dubious at first, but after a few seconds she leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms and legs.

“Then find them. If anything, it will prove you’re right and soulmates aren’t real.”

“You have to admit it’s a little weird that the universe somehow knows who you’ll spend the rest of your life with.” He mumbled under his breath. If people believed in it, of course they would spend the rest of their lives with each other, because _they believed it was meant to be_ , even if there was no chemistry whatsoever between them.

Ran cracked her knuckles, a creepy smile on her face, an augur that Shinichi’s future had pain written all along it if he didn’t do as she said.

“Find them, prove me wrong.”

Shinichi agreed.

* * *

KID used to stare at him during heists. Both in disguise or as himself. Shinichi let him. They talked, afterwards, about the heist or recent cases, but Shinichi never brought it up. He was actually surprised when he figured out he _liked_ having the attention of the thief. Liked talking with him, too.

He was a detective. A good detective. Even as Conan he knew the chance of KID being his soulmate was pretty high (especially after he manically checked the eyes of every single child at his elementary school), it was either him or some random policeman of Division Two.

By the time he was a recurrent character at heists, he suspected KID was his soulmate. Except it couldn’t be, because the thief would’ve said something, right?

Right?

* * *

They got along. More so than before.

Shinichi was a big enough man to accept that okay, so maybe KID always understood him. He always made him laugh during heists when he was Conan, and they became faster friends than he ever expected them to become. With Hakuba back in London, Shinichi was sort of working two full time jobs- a detective with Division one, and the new resident KID expert with Division Two. Not that he was complaining, the thrill of the heists made him feel more alive than ever.

It could be quite tiring on his body, though.

A little more than two months after the first heist he attended as himself, Shinichi was waiting for the thief to show up, as usual. He left the police to run after a dummy riding a motorcycle (the one trick he had yet to figure out, especially since the motorcycle never crashed), and was waiting in the back alley of the place where the heist took place.

He yawned. His head hurt a little, and his eyes burned, but at least the wall he was leaning on was comfortably cool and refreshing. The night was warm and quiet, the only sounds being the buzzing of the cars passing by away from him, and the soft glowing of their lights. The alley was dark, and under any other circumstances he would be concerned for his own safety, but it was well within the supervised security of the building since they hardly wanted their employees to get mugged while walking to and from their job. All in all, it was quite relaxing.

He closed his eyes to rub them with his left index and thumb before checking his watch. Ten seventeen. KID was two minutes late.

He closed his eyes again, if only to stop them from burning. Not a second after the back door of the building opened softly, equally soft steps accompanying the first sound.

“You don’t look so well,” KID said, not more than half a meter away from him. Shinichi wasn’t surprised anymore at his ability to unnoticeably get close to anyone.

“I just need to sleep, that’s all.” He opened his eyes. Kid was wearing a security officer uniform, instead of his usual white suit. The night was dark, and the light the passing cars provided was poor at best. Even if there was light, KID’s black cap would hide his face and expressions for him, nevertheless Shinichi fancied the thief wore a worried expression.

“Yeah, right,” the thief admonished softly, voice soft as silk as if to match the softness of his footsteps. He put the back of his hand against Shinichi’s forehead and hummed. Shinichi felt a strange relief out of the cooler, soft skin of the other’s hand.

“You do know you have a fever, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Liar.” KID chuckled, lowering his hand. Shinichi was left with a tingling feeling on his skin, feeling warm for a completely different reason. “You’re sick. You shouldn’t have come.”

“Who would catch you if I wasn’t here?” Shinichi said with a smirk. KID smiled and leaned on the wall, right next to Shinichi.

“Will you catch me then, Meitantei?”

“Not right now, I don’t think I could run after you,” he mumbled, relishing the warmth coming from KID’s arm, softly pressed against his. That, more than anything, seemed to increase the thief’s worry.

“You really are sick huh?” He contemplated the detective silently, apparently deciding on something. “Come on then, I’ll take you home.”

“And how exactly will you do that?” Shinichi thought that he must really be sick to take on KID’s offer, even if he hadn’t realized he _was_ sick until he brought it up. But he was just tired, and taking the bus felt like the last thing he wanted to do right now. As tired as he was, he would probably fall asleep and miss his station.

“You’ll see.” KID grinned, white teeth shining under the scarce light.

KID led them towards the end of the alley, where a lonely blue motorbike was parked. He put his helmet on with a white puff so as not to uncover his face and offered Shinichi the spare helmet.

“You really don’t expect me to ride behind you,” Shinichi exclaimed with horror. KID laughed somewhat maniacally.

“Of course, how else will I take your pretty face home?” Choosing to ignore the last part, Shinichi briefly reconsidered taking the bus. As if to make a point, he coughed. Stupid body.

“Fine. It’s your fault if you get sick too.” He got on the motorbike, making an effort to look annoyed while doing it.

“They say only the good die young.” KID grinned. “Hold on, I wouldn’t want you to fall to your death.”

Shinichi did. He put his arms around KID’s waist and blamed the fever when halfway through the journey he leaned his face against KID’s back. Who could blame a fevered teen for looking for the comfort of cool fabric? Thankfully, KID didn’t mention it.

His house wasn’t too far away, the ride there only took fifteen minutes. If Shinichi was with anyone else, he would’ve been freaked out if said person knew his address without asking. But KID was always breaking in, Shinichi would be more surprised if he didn’t know his address by now.

Shinichi coughed a little when the motorbike stopped in front of his house.

“Thanks,” he murmured, already getting off the bike.

“You sure you’re okay?” Shinichi had known the thief for over a year and a half. KID was worried.

“I’ll be fine.”

Before walking away from the bike, he gave the helmet back to KID. When he took it back, Shinichi moved to take in turn KID’S helmet off his head in an attempt to reveal his face.

The face that stared back at him was not one he was expecting.

“Come on Meitantei, you should’ve known it wouldn’t be so easy.” Hakuba, uncharacteristically, grinned. Shinichi sighed and gave the other helmet back.

“I had to try.”

“Get some rest, Shin-chan. I hope to see you in great shape at my next heist. Until next time.”

He left before Shinichi had a chance to complain about the nickname.

The next morning, there was a steaming bowl of soup waiting by his bedside.

* * *

Without the fever numbing his senses, the next time Shinichi and KID encountered each other after a heist, the detective threw a soccer ball at the other man. It hit him in the arm.

“Ouch!” he complained. “What was that for?”

“Breaking into my house and taking advantage of me.” He frowned.

“I left you soup! And how did I take advantage of you?”

“I didn’t change into my pajamas, KID! How do you think I went to bed in my school uniform and woke up in a penguin onesie?” KID smirked.

“Magic?” he offered. The new ball barely missed his head. 

“You’re dead.” As soon as Shinichi said those words, bright spotlights illuminated the rooftop they were at. KID wouldn’t be able to fly away, as he intended to.

There weren’t any policemen around, only Shinichi and KID. He couldn’t disguise as someone else. The buzz of helicopters approaching wasn’t promising either.

Shinichi saw him glance at the door to enter the building, KID used a rope to climb on the outside, so he didn’t use the stairs, or the door leading to those stairs. There was a fish nailed to the outside of the door, KID barely contained a scream.

When KID looked back at him, he smirked confidently, even though Shinichi knew that under his mask, KID knew he was screwed unless he came up with another plan.

“I’m impressed, Tantei-kun.”

* * *

Kaito had a cast on his pinky from when he managed to pull a miracle escape out of the trap Kudo had set him. He was trying to open his bento box without using his right injured hand when Akako slammed a newspaper on his desk.

“Don’t.” Her tone was as stern as ever, but it lacked the usual mirth.

“I have to eat _something,_ ” Kaito replied, finally managing to get the lid off.

“I’m not talking to Kuroba,” she said meaningfully. Kaito paused for a minute, and then looked up to her. Her eyes were just as serious as her voice.

“What are you talking about?”

“KID’S notice. Don’t do it.”

“Why would I have a say in what KID-sama steals?”

Akako stared at him, clearly mad and annoyed, but when it became clear today would not be the day Kaito personally admitted what everyone already knew, she sighed.

“Believe it or not I have a responsibility as the red witch. It’s my duty to collect, destroy or otherwise manage cursed objects. The stone you intend to steal is cursed. Don’t steal it, or you will be cursed.”

Kaito blinked.

“Believing that would mean believing in a kind of magic not meant for magicians, and that’s the only kind I believe in.” After saying that he gave the girl a shit-eating grin. “Besides, I’m sure KID will give it back, so how bad could it be?”

Akako looked skeptical and resentful, with her arms crossed and a furrowed brow.

“I warned you, Kuroba. Whatever happens to Kudo is on you.”

She walked out of the room, ignoring Kaito’s shout after her.

“Wait, what about Kudo?”

* * *

That night, he stole the jewel. It was pretty, multicolored and big. Its shine under the moonlight was not what he was looking for, but the rainbow shine was certainly mesmerizing.

Kudo entered the room he was at, on the second floor. They were in an abandoned house, a few streets behind the heist’s place. Kaito turned around, grinned, and offered the stone.

“Look at this.” Kudo walked towards him, his eyes as clever and analytical as ever. He tried to examine him, to watch his face, but his hat always blocked the view. A very pretty view, if Kaito may say so himself.

Once Kudo was close enough, Kaito placed the stone back under the moonlight. He heard Kudos’s breath catch.

“It’s beautiful,” Kudo said. Kaito agreed. He offered the stone again with a chivalrous bow.

“Will you take care of it for me, Tantei-kun?” Kaito would never grow tired of the way Kudo looked at him, with those sharp and alert eyes that never missed a thing.

“I’ll see that it’s returned,” he replied simply, taking the gemstone with his fingertips and a handkerchief, so as not to damage it.

Kaito flicked his cape, and with the help of a little smoke got out by the window. The wind carried a murmured ‘until next time’.

Unknown to Kaito, Shinichi tripped on his way down the stairs.

The next day, at school, Kaito meant to tell Akako nothing bad happened.

The girl did not look at him all week.

* * *

Shinichi sneezed.

A random police officer said bless you, just before the lights at the museum they were at went out. When they returned, both the random policeman and the necklace were gone.

He guided Nakamori through KID’s escape route, the thief almost got caught four times before they lost him. Knowing his time was up, Kudo got down to the basement.

He entered a little room used for curating art and the other exhibitions of the museum. A replica of a pharaoh coffin sat right in the middle of the room. He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. Trust KID to find a way to use a costume on his Halloween heist.

“Come out,” he called. KID slowly removed the lid of the coffin and sat up straight. His whole body was covered in bandages.

He offered out his hand to help the thief stand up. KID took it. He wasn’t even wearing the hat because the bandages covered his entire face. Shinichi briefly wondered how he could breathe under that thing.

“Is this a trap, detective?” KID asked, although the confidence in his voice made it clear it wasn’t a real question.

“Nakamori told me they’re blocking every exit of the museum to make sure you can’t escape and told me to go home, so I figured I was off duty and came to find you.” He shrugged. “I could hardly let you think I didn’t know your plan all along.”

“I would _never._ ” A pause. “It’s Halloween and I explicitly wrote in my notice I expected to see you in costume, so why aren’t you in one?”

Shinichi raised an eyebrow, clearly judging him.

“I don’t like dressing up,” he said, serious as ever.

“Let’s change that, shall we?”

“What do you-? Wait, KID, no!” Smoke. Shinichi felt like a thousand hands were upon his body and complained all the way through.

When the heavy smoke dissipated not more than three seconds after, his clothes were neatly folded in a pile over the fake coffin and he was instead wearing a pharaoh costume, complete with the crown. However, he had more serious concerns at the moment.

“You touched my butt,” he complained, not sure how he felt about it.

“I did not, but if I had I’d say it’s just as good as it looks from behind.” Shinichi blushed furiously, and since his chest was only covered by a necklace-like thingy, the blush that spread all the way down to his neck was _extremely_ noticeable. KID’S face remained completely covered, but Shinichi knew that underneath he had that trademark insufferable smirk plastered on his face.

“I don’t like it,” he stated, still blushing and avoiding eye contact while pointing at the costume. KID hummed in recognition. And dropped another smoke bomb.

For a second, Shinichi thought that KID had the right idea to let him put his own clothes back on. But no. When the smoke dissipated, he was wearing another pharaoh’s costume. A different one, with more fabric to cover his chest and legs, but a costume nonetheless.

“Better?”

“I hate you.”

“Give me some credit, I know you have a costume party later and you were planning on wearing a pair of glasses.” Shinichi didn’t bother to ask how the fuck he knew that.

At the party, he slipped on spilled soda and landed on his butt.

* * *

They were on a cruise. It was another Suzuki heist, and Sonoko invited them all; Ran, her father and him. The cruise was big and full of fun things to do; he had an amazing time at the pool in the morning and enjoyed a fantastic dinner right before the heist. His problem began at the heist itself. Really, who gets seasick after almost a whole day? He was in the boiler room waiting for the thief, finding some relief in the darkness even if the depth of the room made his headache and dizziness worse.

The door slammed shut after the thief came in. He was panting, probably sweating too after running around the gigantic cruise, trying to get away without being caught. Shinichi was too uncomfortable to care.

“Shut up, you’re too loud,” he complained. He was sitting on the ground and panting as well, but for a completely different reason.

KID, ever the gentleman, immediately kneeled down by him.

“Kudo?” he called, doubt clear in his voice.

“I’m fine,” he swallowed, “Just sea sickness.”

Kid didn’t say anything for a moment. Shinichi was too preoccupied trying to keep his head from spinning to notice.

“Come on, I’ve got an idea.” The thief stood up, and against his better judgment Shinichi followed.

When they went out the door, he noticed that KID was now disguised as a pretty woman. Young, probably mid-twenties, with long wavy brown hair and soft green eyes. She guided him towards the top of the cruise ship. The exit was right by the pool, the lights were too bright but there was some kind of comfort in the cool sea air blowing against his face.

KID kept walking. Soon they were at the bow of the ship, where at any given point during the journey there was someone pretending to be Jack from that James Cameron movie. KID made him sit on a bench and put his head between his knees. The relief was not immediate, but it was close.

“Feeling better?”

“Yes, thank you.” Shinichi raised his head only to see KID contemplating the gem against the moonlight. Not red. Both remained silent for a while.

“This one is the color of your eyes, you know?” he paused “Just like the ocean. Your eyes are the color of the ocean” KID said, somewhat appropriately considering they were surrounded by said ocean. Shinichi knew it was not meant as a pickup line, but rather more an assessment. Even knowing this, he couldn’t help but reply.

“Which one?”

KID laughed somewhat bitterly and put the gem back in his purse, a matching red to his dress. It was weird, to look at a face and know it wasn’t the face of the one he was talking to. But then again, he didn’t really know his real face, did he? KID sat on the bench, right next to him and stared up at the moon.

“Do you ever think about soulmates?” KID said out of the blue. Shinichi turned his face to look at him, but the thief kept looking at the moon.

“Not really,” he answered after an instant, staring at the floor instead. He was still dizzy from the sea sickness; he’d need to take some medicine when he got back to his room.

“I do.”

Shinichi was not one for gossip, but he _was_ a detective, and any information given that could help him to figure out the identity of the thief was well welcome. “Do you have one?”

KID lowered his head to look at him straight in the eye. Green eyes met two different shades of blue. His expression was pained, open and vulnerable. A torment of thoughts passed behind those eyes, messy and destructive. His mouth opened just the tiniest bit, painted red lips giving way to the hint of a pink tongue; Shinichi could practically feel the words about to spill out of the thief’s mouth. But they didn’t. Shinichi swallowed.

“I would like to.” His voice was rough with feeling. His own voice, not the one from the woman he was disguised as. He had used that voice when they made their way up the ship, just in case anyone was close enough to listen. But he wasn’t anymore. They were alone.

Shinichi had the sudden urge to take his hand and give it a squeeze. _Just to reassure KID_ , he told himself, even though he knew that was not the whole truth. Who knew the one detective obsessed with finding the truth, would refuse to acknowledge it so much when it came to his feelings?

He didn’t reach out. Kept his hands steady on his lap, and didn’t once meet KID’s eyes.

KID didn’t ask about his soulmate. After a while he got up, told him he needed to get going before someone found him, and jumped to a lifeboat on the side of the cruise ship. KID said goodbye to him as usual, with his trademark ‘until next time’ but this time the inviting phrase left a cold, lonely feeling in his heart. Shinichi sat on the same bench for another ten minutes before Ran came out to find him.

“Shinichi? Are you okay?” she asked. She must’ve noticed something in his expression. He didn’t realize until she asked that he had been clutching at the fabric of his jeans.

“Yeah.” He sighed, releasing the fabric and already standing up. The sea sickness was gone. “Where’s your dad?”

“He and Sonoko saw a boat getting away from the cruise, so they followed it. I’m not sure Sonoko wants to capture KID though,” she replied with a warm smile, the one that she offered to anyone she suspected was having a bad day. They walked slowly towards the part of the cruise where the rooms were.

“So how’s the search for your soulmate? Any hints?” Ran was clearly trying to cheer him up; her voice lively and as bright as her smile. Little did she know that soulmates were the thing that had him so down. He didn’t say anything for a good few minutes, so long that Ran started to worry.

“I think I might have found my soulmate,” he said finally. The smile returned to the girl’s face.

“Really? Who is it?” she asked excitedly.

 _I wish I knew_ he thought, a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

* * *

People started noticing he wasn’t really making a big effort to put KID behind bars. (One time, Shinichi even heard some detectives mention they missed the little boy who always followed Kogoro around, he always got the job done). Shinichi noticed, too, and blamed it on a weird moment in his life. He made the decision to try harder, to try again to catch KID, instead of just waiting for him to chat and banter like they always did. Catching him was way easier than thinking about his feelings.

Evil glee made him suggest that the gem in question got hidden inside a fish. A tuna, nonetheless. Nakamori was confused but he obliged.

If KID was confused about their after-heist talks stopping, he didn’t mention it. As it were, they quickly got back to their old cat and mouse dynamics.

It was the fourth heist after Shinichi decided to catch KID. He was, for a change, chasing him down the street. It was raining, pouring really. The rain and the hair sticking to his eyes made it hard for him to see. It was also cold, extremely cold. Winter was coming, and with it the gelid rain that could almost be snow. Running gave him a little warmth, but even so his teeth were chattering.

He chased KID for around four blocks until he lost him. He stood under a lamp and tried to catch his breath. Big poofs of vapor came out of his mouth. With the lack of exercise, he was starting to get a bit chilly. Just a bit. A little bit. Almost couldn’t feel the cold, nope. In fact, it was a little warm. (No, of course he wasn’t freezing, shut up).

A shadow over his head deprived him from the light that the lamp provided.

“The weather channel said it would rain tonight. You should’ve brought an umbrella, Meitantei.”

Shinichi raised his head so fast he almost got whiplash. KID stood to his right, far enough to avoid a tranquilizer dart but close enough to extend his arm and cover him from the rain with his own umbrella. Shinichi raised his hand and darted him. KID dodged it easily.

“Take it, I wouldn’t want my favorite critic to get a cold.” KID offered him the umbrella. Shinichi didn’t hesitate for too long before taking it. Their fingers brushed. Shinichi thought that KID really was a good magician if even with all that rain he managed to keep his gloves dry. They felt warm through the fabric. Shinichi blinked, and KID was gone.

“Until next time,” came a whisper just above his head.

The next day, his fingers got stuck on a door.

* * *

Another heist. This time Nakamori thought to surprise the thief and hide the priceless necklace in the police station. Shinichi thought to himself that at least he wouldn’t have to travel all the way across the city. Besides, he knew the arena. He had an advantage over KID.

It would seem KID figured that out, too, because the moment the smoke bomb exploded, he -as well as the rest of Division Two- got covered in glittery pink duct tape. He couldn’t move. KID stood in the middle of the station, grinning and holding the necklace with two fingers. One could practically smell the arrogance wafting off of him.

“KID, don’t you dare take that necklace!” Nakamori yelled, struggling to release himself from the duct tape. The rest of the police followed his example, and soon everyone but Shinichi was trying to get rid of the duct tape.

“Now, why would I do that?” KID sneered. He wiggled the necklace in front of the inspector’s face, and proceeded to promptly put it inside his pocket.

KID turned to face Shinichi, smiled, and walked towards him. Shinichi frowned.

“Get away,” he demanded.

“You wound me, detective.”

KID stopped, leaving barely a foot between them. Even this close, and even with so many lights, Shinichi could not see his face. It made something inside him scream with _want_. The want to see his face, the need to see his eyes. He pushed it down.

“You have something on your face, darling.” KID reached out. Shinichi tried to back away, but it was near impossible while having his limbs tightly taped together with the rest of his body. Grinning, KID removed a strand of hair from Shinichi’s face, much to the latter’s aversion. “Until next time.”

The next day, while playing soccer with the Detective Boys, a soccer ball hit him in the face hard enough to leave a bruise. Just where KID touched him the day before.

* * *

Even though he was back in London, the police still thought of Hakuba as a KID expert. Considering Shinichi’s recent failures, they consulted him on ways to hopefully catch KID. He suggested putting the gem on Shinichi. A ring, nonetheless. A big, heavy, ruby ring.

Knowing he was still walking on eggshells, Shinichi didn’t refuse.

He was stuck inside a big glass box, made of the strongest glass known to man. The box had been literally built around him, so as not to build a door. It would have to be disassembled by the engineers on hold. It was so inaccessible, that said box didn’t include in its design a hole to breath. The police let him inside with an oxygen tank and a mask, just in case he ran out of the natural oxygen in the air trapped inside the box. Ten policemen surrounded him as if he were the gem. The room had no ventilation system, and the only door was being guarded by Nakamori himself. Shinichi wasn’t naïve enough to think KID wouldn’t find way in, but at least it would make things hard for him. In reality, Shinichi was not looking forward for the mockery he was getting himself into once KID saw him.

The clock marked the time the heist was due. Shinichi blinked, and when he opened his eyes again KID was inside the box with him.

“How-” He stopped mid-sentence, incredulous and perplexed. He sighed. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know.” Outside, Nakamori was screaming orders. The box would be opened any minute now.

“Who is the lucky lady?” KID made a sign towards the big ring on his finger.

“How do you know it’s a lady?” He played along. He earned a delighted grin.

“I was rather hoping you’d say that. I could never hurt a lady, but a man I can challenge to a duel”

The engineers rushed in, each holding a gigantic drill to open the box.

“A duel?”

“For your hand, of course.” He tipped his hat, bowed graciously and took Shinichi’s hand to plant a gallant kiss on it. As he regained his posture, the box cracked open. The ring on his hand was gone.

“Until next time, Tantei-kun.” He threw a smoke bomb. The policemen who jumped in to catch KID ended up landing on Shinichi.

He sprained his wrist in the fall. 

* * *

“You’ve been so clumsy lately.” Ran concluded, after an especially long rant about Shinichi’s supposed carelessness. It wasn’t his fault, he just had terrible luck.

“Ouch!” he complained when Ran tightened the bandage around his wrist too hard. She murmured a halfhearted apology and carried on. “It’s not my fault that cop mistook my hand for a chair,” he grumbled.

After the heist, the officer had apologized profusely, even when Shinichi assured him it wasn’t that big of a deal. As compensation, he offered to give him a ride home. Shinichi took the offer but knowing he should probably get his wrist checked out, he gave Ran’s address instead of his own. So there he was, sitting through his best friend’s scolding while being wrapped up. It was late, Kogoro was asleep upstairs so they had to keep quiet.

“Maybe, but this isn’t the first time you got hurt on a job.” A pause. “Especially on a heist. Doesn’t KID have a no one gets hurt policy?”

“It would seem it doesn’t apply to me.”

Sensing Shinichi’s aggravation, Ran changed the conversation to her favorite topic. “How’s the search for your soulmate going? Last time you told me you know who they are.”

“Oh, yeah,” he said, feigning disinterest and doing his best attempt to copy KID’s poker face. “I said so.”

Ran smacked him. He complained.

“So tell me! Did you find them?”

“I thought I did. I’m not so sure anymore.” He glanced at Ran. The girl was done bandaging his wrist and was giving him her full attention. He let out a frustrated sigh. “It’s just- I can’t exactly ask him. And even if I could, I have responsibilities. It’s complicated.”

“So it’s a him. Huh, I thought so.” Ran muttered to herself, holding a hand to her cheek in thought. “Look, you’re a detective. If you can’t ask him, why don’t you find out on your own?”

If only it were that easy. If Shinichi could get close enough to see his eyes, he wouldn’t even be chasing the thief. He’d be in prison. Shinichi didn’t want that, even if he couldn’t point out the exact moment when he stopped chasing the thief to catch him and started chasing him for the pure thrill of the chase.

Ran noticed his distress, patted him on his uninjured hand, and stood up.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. We have school tomorrow; I’ll go to sleep. You can stay on the couch, you know where the blankets are”

He thanked her, and soon he was alone. He stood to turn off the lights when a tap coming from the window called his attention. It was the white dove, one of the two that always followed him around. He opened the window and caressed the little animal’s head. The dove -Clea, as he had begun to call it- bit his finger gently. Soon, the other dove flew towards them and stood on his shoulder. It had a new toothbrush in its beak. The wrapper had KID’s doodle on it.

He couldn’t help but smile.

* * *

KID didn’t see Kudo at the heist that night. It wasn’t common to not see the detective, but it wasn’t uncommon either. Somedays, Kudo would get too wrapped up in one of his cases to attend his heists.

It was easier without him. And way more boring.

After the shortest heist in a long time, he left Nakamori chasing a ferret down the street and went up to the rooftop. It was a cold night. Warmer than last week, but still cold. He shivered a little, and walked calmly towards the wind’s direction, ready to release his glider and fly away on this sad, Kudo-less night.

Someone sneezed.

Startled, he turned back and saw Kudo leaning against the wall.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you. Carry on.” His cool façade crumbled to pieces by another sneeze. “Christ, you took your sweet time. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”

“Careful. That sounds dangerously like a pick-up line.” He grinned.

“Maybe it is.” Kudo pushed away from the wall. Not a lot of people could say they surprised Kaitou KID, but Kudo could. He always surprised him and just when Kaito thought he had the detective figured out, he came up with something like that.

“Are you finally going to take your shot with this dazzling gentleman?”

“Wouldn’t you like that?” Kudo rolled his eyes. In a sudden strike of honesty, Kaito replied;

“I would.”

The night was dark, and the light the moon provided was not enough for Kaito to see the blush on the detective’s cheeks. The same thing worked in reverse, and Shinichi did not see the embarrassment coloring KID’S face. Kudo was the one who broke the silence, clearing his throat.

“Thanks for the coffee,” Kudo said matter-of-factly, not looking Kaito in the eyes.

“I still don’t understand how you like it, it’s too bitter.” He made a face.

Kaito had been sending personalized heist notices to Kudo since that first heist he attended. They varied from letters to origamis, a post-it on his fridge, to a love letter on his locker. Today’s notice had been delivered on a cup of coffee; black, bitter, and awful, just like Kudo liked it. His two doves had had to carry it between the two of them to Kudo’s window, he’d had to give them a treat once they reported back to him.

“I like it just fine,” Kudo defended, oblivious to Kaito’s inner monologue.

“It’s more like an addiction, really.” Kudo frowned and opened his pretty lips to reply, but Kaito wasn’t paying attention anymore. There was a noise coming from above; a helicopter.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Kudo said innocently, sticking his hands in his pockets. “I’m here to distract you.”

“…Shit.”

The helicopter was already flying on top of them. Without a second thought, Kaito rushed forwards and sprinted towards the detective. Based upon the direction the helicopter was pointed to, if he stood at _just the right angle_ , the helicopter would not be able to see him.

He couldn’t let them see Kudo, though.

Kudo protested when Kaito pushed him against the wall, two and a half meters to the left of where he originally stood before Kaito saw him. Just in time for the helicopter to turn on it’s lights.

“Kaitou KID, we have you surrounded.” Nakamori’s voice came from the helicopter. “Show yourself.”

“Get off me,” Kudo jeered, struggling against Kaito’s grip. He was completely pinned against the wall. Kaito’s right hand was holding Kudo’s wrist tightly, so as to prevent being darted. His other hand was the one pushing Kudo against the wall by the shoulder. Maybe, if Kaito wasn’t preoccupied by the helicopter’s imminent threat, he would’ve stopped a minute to realize his position with the detective was more than a little compromising. Their chests were so pressed together he could practically feel Kudo’s heartbeat.

Kaito shushed him. “You’re being too loud, my dear detective.”

“What makes you think I won’t scream to reveal where we are?” Kudo challenged. His breath felt hot against Kaito’s cheeks. Kaito smiled softly. With the lights at their back, and only a few centimeters of shadow covering them from the sight of the helicopter, Kaito wasn’t worried about Kudo seeing his face, even at such a close distance.

“Always so challenging.” Taking advantage of their positions, Kaito leaned forwards and joined their lips together in a kiss. Kudo yelped, clearly surprised. Kaito kept going, refusing to give up until a few seconds later Kudo surrendered and returned the kiss, moaning softly.

Kaito moved his lips slowly against Kudo’s. They were soft and warm, a little dry due to the cold but _oh so perfect_.

The helicopter kept demanding him to turn himself in, but Kaito didn’t listen. He was kissing Kudo, kissing _Shinichi_ , kissing _his soulmate_. Life couldn’t get any better than this.

The helicopter retreated five minutes later, probably thinking something went wrong with the plan since neither KID nor Kudo were anywhere to be seen. Kaito kept kissing Shinichi long after the helicopter was gone, until they were both panting for breath.

Without the blinding lights, Kudo would have no problem seeing his face. By now, his eyes must’ve been adjusted to the dark that surrounded them. Kaito needed to leave, and he needed to do it fast.

“I’m afraid I must go,” he said, caressing Kudo’s cheek softly with his left hand. Not once did he let go of the detective’s wrist. No matter their weird relationship, Kudo was still on the other side of the law, and had Kaito not been holding his watch-wrist prisoner, he would’ve undoubtedly darted him in the face. “Until next time, detective.”

And with that, he changed his clothes to look like an ordinary mid-forties man and left the building.

This time, his disguise was an Uber driver. He borrowed Jii-chan’s car and drove around a few passengers. He took one last passenger, a girl, who wanted to go to Shibuya, near where the heist had occurred. Kaito was sleepy and ready for bed but decided to take her request since it would give him the chance to verify if his detective was already home. Perhaps he could pay him a quick visit.

The girl got off just a block away from the heist place. There were still a lot of patrols around the building. Kaito drove in front of all of them, but Kudo was not in sight. Thinking he must’ve gone home, Kaito turned left to go back to Beika.

That’s when he saw him.

If Kaito didn’t have good eyesight, perhaps he would’ve missed the movement in the back of an alley. But he saw it. There were two people in the alley, and one of them was clearly mugging the other. Kaito was about to disguise himself as a policeman and sweep in to hopefully dissuade the mugger, when two simultaneous and horrific things happened. First, he noticed that the person being mugged was Kudo. Second, and not more than a blink after his first discovery, he heard a bang just at the same time Kudo fell to the ground.

All thoughts about keeping his identity secret, sticking to his escape route, or even personal security vanished. His only thought was his soulmate, currently bleeding to death in a dark alley.

The mugger was already running away when Kaito came out of the car, but the teen couldn’t care less about him. He kneeled down next to the other teen, scared to death. Kudo was trying to lean on the wall to sit, so he helped him. He had a gunshot wound on his right shoulder, the wound itself was not mortal, the true danger lay in the blood loss.

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit,” he murmured to himself, firmly pressing his hand to the wound. The blood felt disgustingly warm against his palm. He quickly dialed the emergency number to call for an ambulance and hung up as soon as they confirmed the paramedics would be there in five minutes.

The pressure on the wound was helping, but Kudo was still bleeding profusely. He was holding his left hand to his chest and his whole face screamed pain, but his sharp eyes were focused on Kaito.

“That voice… wait, KID?” Kaito grinned at him in an attempt to distract him, this mid-forties greasy man wasn’t by far his most attractive or comforting disguise, but it would have to do.

Shinichi was too pale.

“What happened to your hand, Tantei-kun?” he asked, noticing it was also bleeding.

“I landed on a broken bottle. Suits my terrible luck.”

Kaito had been having a bad feeling for a while. It always creeped its way into his mind whenever he thought of Kudo.

Akako’s warning had almost been forgotten, discarded as some weird ass belief the girl had on the unnatural. But she had warned him something bad would happen to Kudo. It certainly wasn’t Kaito’s fault that whenever he interacted with his soulmate, he ended up being hurt…

…Right?

Kaito looked down at Shinichi. His bottom lip was bleeding too, broken, most likely from a punch.

His shoulder. His hand. His lips.

But Shinichi always had bad luck around him. He was always sneezing, complaining about a headache, or getting a sudden stomachache at every heist. He seemed to get ill whenever they were near each other.

And he got hurt when they touched.

Kaito tried _so hard_ to ignore all the signs. Ignore Shinichi’s bruises; ignore Shinichi’s broken wrist after Kaito kissed it. But now he got shot after a kiss, and he couldn’t ignore that. If the wounds grew significantly worse each time, what would happen next?

How could Kaito live knowing his mere presence was hurting his soulmate?

“You’re awfully quiet.” Shinichi was looking up at him with mild concern. _It made no sense_ , Kaito thought, how could he be concerned for Kaito when Shinichi was the one bleeding on the floor?

Kaito tried to smile at him, but it came out more like a grimace; hollow and fragile.

He didn’t answer.

He felt bad. Terrible, really. Shinichi was shot because of him. Because he just couldn’t _listen_. The shame and guilt weighed down on his shoulders, threatening to kill him slowly, just like he was killing Shinichi.

If Kaito was hurting Shinichi just by being around him, he’d have to stay as far away as possible. Even if that hurt Kaito instead. He’d take being the one getting hurt every day, if it meant Shinichi would not have to get hurt because of him again.

Kudo passed out as soon as the ambulance’s lights touched his face. Kaito took it as his sign to leave. He stayed far enough to be out of sight while still being within watching distance as the paramedics rushed Kudo to the hospital.

* * *

Akako woke up with a thud, followed by a series of mumbled ‘shits’.

“Get out of my house or I will kill you,” she warned, rolling to her side.

“Please.”

Kuroba never begged. That, more than anything, made her open her eyes and stare at the teen standing in front of her bed. He looked terrible, his eyes were puffy and red, his hair messier than ever and his expression screamed despair. Akako turned on her night lamp, sat on her bed graceful as ever, and stared down at Kaito. Whoever saw her would not guess she had just been woken up, she looked flawless.

“What do you want?” She frowned. She and Kuroba had not spoken for a while, and now he came barging into her room and begging for her help.

“It’s about Kudo.”

Her eyes turned colder at those words.

“I have nothing to tell you. Get out.” She reached out her hand to turn off the light.

“No!” Kaito screamed, the same despair and anguish on his face reflecting in his voice. “Please, I… I don’t know what to do.”

Akako didn’t stop him, so he carried on. “A few months ago, you said Kudo would get hurt, and I didn’t listen. He got shot today, and I…” He choked on his own words. He felt a tight knot in his throat, and was trying hard not to cry again, not in front of the witch.

The girl’s face was blank.

“I need to fix it. Please. I’ll give you anything you want, anything.”

Akako raised an eyebrow, carefully considering the teen in front of her. Kuroba must’ve known the risk of offering a witch anything she wanted, especially her.

She sighed.

“You can’t fix it.” She waited a few seconds for the misery to settle in Kuroba before she continued talking, “Only I can. This is why I tell you to listen to me.”

She considered briefly asking Kuroba to be her servant for the rest of eternity. Or asking him to give himself to her, like she’d wanted for so long. But it wasn’t fun anymore, not if Kuroba would spend eternity serving her while thinking of his soulmate, a soulmate he loved enough to give his life and soul to a witch. What was the point of having his body, if she couldn’t have his heart?

“The gem you stole was cursed,” she explained, Kuroba practically drank every bit of information she gave him with the despair of a man who had been lost in a desert for weeks. “The curse is meant to take from the thief the thing he values the most. In other words, the curse would eventually kill the thief’s soulmate. In your case it’s slow acting because you two are not around each other so much, the bond is not complete yet. My guess is Kudo will be dead in a month or so. Sooner, if you keep your current rhythm. I give it two heists before he drops dead on you.”

Kuroba swallowed hard. Akako’s nonchalant indifference sent a chill through his spine. “How do I stop it?”

“You can start by staying away from him, or he _will_ die sooner than you think.” She rolled her eyes, exasperated. “If you get me the gem, I’ll try to break the curse. I can’t make any promises, I did warn you not to steal it.” She stared at him harshly. “But I’ll try.”

“The owner moved it to another country after I stole it, I don’t know where it is.” Kaito pulled at his hair, clearly worried. His mind was racing a hundred miles an hour, trying to come up with a feasible plan to get the gem back.

“That’s not my problem.”

“Wait, there’s one more thing,” Kaito swallowed hard. It was too much information to deal with it. “Kudo- can I tell him?”

Akako looked at him like he grew a second head. “Are you stupid? Didn’t I just tell you to stay away from him? This is magic, Kuroba, it’s a miracle Kudo is alive at this point. Don’t play around and stay away if you don’t want him to become a vegetable the next time you talk to him.”

Kaito nodded, gloomy and ashamed. Akako turned off the light and lay back down on her bed.

“Now get out of my room.”

* * *

Sneaking into the hospital wasn’t hard at all. Kaito found a white coat in the staff room, and nobody stopped him when he checked the documents in the nurses’ station to find which room Kudo was in.

Careful not to make noise, he snuck into the room on the third floor. Kudo was asleep, and alone. He looked pale against the white sheets, and the tubes coming up from his nose made Kaito’s heart clench painfully. Slowly, he got closer. He could see Kudo’s chest rising and falling, and the machine reading his vitals made a constant, reassuring beep. Akako would be furious if she found out Kaito ignored her warnings, again. But he _had_ to, he had to make sure Kudo was all right.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, voice hoarse and low, as he left a white rose and a letter on top of the nightstand. The letter was mostly an extremely long apology, and a little bit of explanation of what Akako told him. “I’ll make things right, I promise.”

Kaito pulled the blanket over Kudo, since it had fallen off down to his waist and the night was a bit chilly. It was a quick movement, touchless, but that didn’t stop Kudo’s vitals from dropping dangerously low; making the machine beep in alarm. Kaito retreated as quick as he could, eyes wide with shock.

The nurses wouldn’t take long to rush in, but it wasn’t his escape route that he was worried about. He glanced at the letter, neatly placed on the nightstand. Kudo was stubborn, and he always felt like he had to do everything himself. If he knew about the curse he would undoubtedly try to break it himself; Kaito couldn’t expect him to keep his hands off the case. That, or just straight up deem Kaito as crazy and continue to chase him. Either way, Kudo would not stay away.

What would happen then? If just by being near him, Kaito caused his vitals to drop, what would happen if they met to talk?

As quick and hurried footsteps neared the room, Kaito took back the letter and jumped out the window. When the nurses came in, the only sight that Kaito had ever been there was the single white rose on the nightstand.

* * *

Shinichi woke up. His head felt like it was filled with cotton, his mouth too. And his shoulder hurt like hell. He opened his eyes slowly, the light in the room hurt his eyes a little. The sun was still low and bright, meaning it was still morning.

“You’re awake!” Ran exclaimed and immediately jumped from her chair to hug him carefully.

“What happened?” He hugged her back with his good arm.

“You got shot, remember?”

Oh.

 _Oh_. Right.

“You’re lucky the bullet went through the other side. You really need to be more careful.” Ran looked at him with concern and worry. Shinichi smiled reassuringly at her.

“I’ll be fine, this is not the first time I got shot.” He grinned. Ran frowned slightly.

“That makes it worse,” she mumbled; arms crossed. Then, Shinichi noticed her uniform.

“You should get to school, or you’ll be late.” Ran regained her worried expression, so he added, “I’ll be fine, I promise. Go to class, I’ll need to borrow your notes later.”

When she left, Shinichi noticed the single white rose on a vase in his nightstand. That night, he waited for KID to show up and check on him.

KID did not show up not once in the two weeks he spent in the hospital.

KID’S heists went on, but Shinichi stopped receiving personalized notices.

It didn’t hurt. Not at all. Nope.

* * *

Neither Division One nor Two let him work for two months. They claimed he couldn’t chase around criminals with a gunshot wound. Shinichi called bullshit.

When he was finally allowed back on cases and heists, he expected a grand gesture from KID to welcome him back, as was his extravagant style, but the thief didn’t even look at him.

Shinichi was annoyed, to say the least. The fact that KID was called a phantom thief, did not gave him the right to _ghost_ Shinichi, for fucks sake.

Three heists KID ghosted Shinichi. The fourth, Shinichi decided he had had enough.

They were at a mansion. KID would be getting away from the daughter’s room on the second floor, so Shinichi waited there. It had been a while since the only thing he wanted from the thief was to talk to him, not a chance to catch him. A few minutes later, the thief came in quietly, and Shinichi could tell from the tension that appeared on his shoulders the exact moment KID noticed he was there.

Shinichi had never been one to ignore the elephant in the room, so he jumped straight to the point.

“Why are you ignoring me?”

KID didn’t answer. He moved around the room, preparing his escape plan, but continued to act as if Shinichi wasn’t there.

Shinichi crossed his arms. “You’ve been acting weird since the other night. Is this about what happened?” KID remained silent. “It is, isn’t it? Was kissing me so awful?”

With those words, KID finally reacted. He froze, just for a few seconds, and then he continued with whatever he was doing. A bitter, resentful feeling settled in Shinichi’s chest.

“Was it? Is that what this is about?” He felt angry and hurt. Used. Between his time at the hospital and the last heists in which KID ignored him, it had been almost two months since they talked. It hurt, because the night KID kissed him he thought that maybe, _maybe_ he really was his soulmate. And maybe, if KID liked him too, they could make it work.

His eyes burned from unshed tears. He rubbed his eyes angrily to remove them. While doing it, he missed the fraction of a second KID stared at him longingly.

KID was gone when he opened his eyes again.

* * *

When the next heist came around, Shinichi had a plan. He _had_ to know if KID was his soulmate or not, and the only way to do that was seeing his face.

Luckily, the heist was at a building. Shinichi prepared in advance a glass in a taller building nearby. The moonlight would reflect on it, and it would look like a sniper.

Desperate times required desperate measures.

Shinichi was on the ground when KID walked onto the rooftop. That, plus the reflection in a nearby building, was sure to make him jump to conclusions.

“Shit, Kudo!” KID panicked, rushing towards the fallen detective. Shinichi took a second to think this was the first time in two months KID addressed him personally.

Once KID was close enough, Shinichi jumped up. His movement took KID by surprise. He had good reflexes, normally his reflexes could match Shinichi’s, but surprise slowed him down. Before the thief could realize what was happening, Shinichi had removed his hat and monocle.

The face that stared back at him with shock looked a lot like his. Except his hair was messier, and his eyes were brown.

It was Shinichi’s turn to be shocked. KID didn’t take long to realize that this had been Shinichi’s plan all along. His eyes were sad. They both stood up, Shinichi’s eyes still glued to KID’s face, to KID’S eyes. Brown. Brown. Brown. Both of them brown.

KID picked up his things, put them back on and walked slowly towards the edge.

“Just leave me alone, Meitantei-san.”

He jumped. It was the first time KID said goodbye without his trademark ‘until next time’.

That was the last time they spoke for a long time.

Shinichi stopped going to heists after that.


	2. Chapter 2

Someone knocked on his door. Hakuba looked at his watch. It was nine o’clock, he never got any night visitors.

He stood up from his couch where he had been reading ahead for his biology class and went to open the door. He sighed as soon as he saw the person who stood on the other side.

“Can I crash with you?” Kaito asked. Behind him there were four suitcases. How could one person have so much luggage?

“You do know we’re in London, right?”

“Duh, that’s like the whole point.” Without waiting for an answer, Kaito invited himself into the house, dragging all his luggage. Hakuba closed the door behind him.

“What are you doing here?”

“Working. Is your mom home?”

“She’s not, she had a business trip to Liverpool.”

Kaito grinned. “Great. Oh, by the way Aoko says hi.” He then proceeded to go straight to the kitchen and raid Hakuba’s fridge under his watchful eye. After a little digging, Kaito emerged from the fridge with some Chinese food leftovers. “Where do you keep the chopsticks?”

“We use forks.”

“Wait, Really? But this is _Chinese_ food!”

“And we are in _England_ ,” Hakuba remarked. Kaito pouted like the child he was and sadly picked up a fork from a drawer. He knew how to use it; it was just awkward.

Hakuba led them to sit on the couch, not without warning Kaito that if he spilled anything on the fabric he’d be sleeping on the streets. They sat in silence, Hakuba reading while Kaito practically inhaled his food. After Kaito chewed on his last bite of chicken, Hakuba closed his book and placed it softly on his legs.

“Does your ‘work’,” Hakuba air-quoted, feigning nonchalance. “In London have anything to do with my father and Inspector Nakamori bugging me about coming back to Japan?”

Kaito grimaced. “Please don’t go back, we’re way too happy without you.”

Hakuba ignored him. “Why do you think they suddenly want two teenage detectives around? Last I heard Kudo was doing great.” When Kaito didn’t respond, Hakuba sighed. “You blew it.”

It wasn’t a question. Kaito groaned, sinking further into the cushions.

“Kudo’s not coming to my heists anymore,” Kaito explained. Hakuba made a noise indicating him to go on, so he did. “I may have made him think we’re not soulmates? Maybe?”

Hakuba rubbed his temple. “I don’t even want to know. I assume I’ll be contacted soon to attend KID’s heist here in London and return to Japan in the summer. Do try not to get yourself killed before that.”

Kaito gave him a sheepish grin. “Can’t make any promises.”

Two days later, the heist went smoothly, and Kaito returned home with a cursed gem. Going through customs was a nightmare. It took him a little over three months to find the gem after his little chat with Akako, and by the time he did Kudo had all but vanished. After the… incident, the only way for Kaito to hear about the detective were the doves, and even they had to keep out of sight, now. Kudo didn’t appreciate seeing them following him around as much as he did before.

Kaito spent the next four days serving as Akako’s personal minion. The girl claimed she needed to focus completely on breaking the curse, and thus couldn’t focus on simple things like doing laundry, her homework, or preparing her own meals. Kaito decided it was in his best interest not to contradict the only person able to fix his mess, and just went with it. Akako broke the curse soon after. As soon as the girl informed him that the curse had been broken all the tension, pressure and distress left his body at once, making Kaito feel like a human jelly; bland and soft.

With the curse broken, he sent a personalized heist notice to Kudo. Without the danger of accidentally murdering him, Kaito was really hoping for the chance to see his soulmate, explain everything, and make things right. But Kudo, again, didn’t show up.

It was then that Kaito realized getting things back to normal would be much harder than he ever imagined. Lucky for him, Lady Luck was always on his side.

* * *

Lady Luck was no longer on his side. No matter what he did, no matter how many notices he sent, Kudo kept ignoring him. Even when he pulled out the heavy artillery and covered every single inch of Kudo’s school -roofs included- in heist notices addressed to him. Every pen, notebook, eraser, blackboard, coffee mug or shoe locker (inside and out) were covered with KID’s doodle and Kudo’s name. Kaito’s doves reported that Kudo went home that day.

With every failed attempt it was becoming clearer and clearer that Kudo was done with KID. It hurt because he knew it was his fault.

As for Shinichi… Well, he wasn’t the happiest person to begin with, but after weeks of being in a foul mood and having the worst temper ever, everyone started noticing there was something else going on with him. Ran was the only one to bring it up, though.

Shinichi was on his way to soccer practice when Ran grabbed him by the elbow. He turned, a little startled by his best friend’s scowl.

“What’s going on with you lately?”

Shinichi smiled at her, but even he had to admit it was one of his most unconvincing smiles ever, and that was counting his time as Conan. “There’s nothing going on with me.”

“Don’t you _dare_ lie to me.” Ran’s grip on his elbow hardened painfully. Shinichi swallowed hard, knowing he had reached the limit of Ran’s apparently not-so-eternal patience, and let out a resigned sigh. He looked around the room quickly, everyone else had already left.

“I was wrong, I don’t know who my soulmate is.”

Ran let go of his arm. Her eyes studied him carefully. “How do you know?”

“His eyes, eh-” _they’re brown_ , his mind supplied. Brown, brown, brown. He swallowed down the words on the tip of his tongue. “He doesn’t have my eye.”

Ran squeezed his hand and gave him an encouraging smile. That’s what Shinichi loved about her; she was the most empathetic person he knew, but she never pitied anyone. She could get worried sick for the people she loved, she could get sad for them, she could try to cheer them up, she could even try to solve their problems, but she never showed pity; empty and meaningless.

“I’m so sorry, Shinichi,” Ran said, heartfelt. Shinichi squeezed her hand back.

“It doesn’t matter.” He chuckled dryly. “I was wrong, that’s all. I just need to find out who my actual soulmate is.”

That’s what he needed to do. Even if the mere thought of someone else—someone who wasn’t KID—being his soulmate left a hole in his heart.

Speaking of the devil, when Shinichi got home after soccer practice, the entirety of his house’s first floor was covered in blue roses. They were pretty. The prettiest roses Shinichi had ever seen. Each petal was softer than silk, and each flower was carefully groomed to have no spines. His whole house smelled like a garden, and it was beautiful.

Shinichi had to borrow Agasa’s car to take all the roses to a hospital. The flowers made the children happier than they did Shinichi, anyway.

* * *

KID kept leaving little gifts around his house. Freshly brewed coffee; books; soup after a tiring case; plushies; and more roses. The children’s hospital was thankful to him for his continuous donations, they claimed the roses always cheered the children up, and the books and plushies helped keep them entertained.

During that time, he carried an investigation on every officer who had been at that first heist he attended as Conan. Most of them kept working so it wasn’t difficult for Shinichi to check them out in case one of them had his eye. Finding the ones who had retired proved to be a little trickier, but he managed. None of them had his eye, though.

If his soulmate was some random passerby he saw on his way to the heist, he might as well give up on finding them. Perhaps he should. Ran would approve, right? He did his best to find his soulmate, it just didn’t work out.

He couldn’t exactly point out the moment when he started wishing soulmates were real, maybe it began whenever he was around KID. He didn’t believe in it, at first. Not for a long time. He wished he could go back to those times. Perhaps, if he did, it wouldn’t hurt to know his soulmate was out there, identity unknown to him, while the one he had fallen for belonged to someone else.

Everything would be easier if he hadn’t started believing in those old stories about soulmates. Also, the gifts were starting to get annoying.

* * *

Kaito was constantly high-key panicking. He was running out of ideas on how to make Kudo forgive him, or at least listen to him. As things were, he didn’t trust Kudo not to shoot him with a tranquilizer dart as soon as Kaito got within darting distance. He wanted to avoid that scenario as much as possible, thank you very much.

The gifts didn’t work, the letters explaining everything didn’t work because Kudo never read them, and his giant “I’M SORRY TANTEI-KUN” skywriting just above Kudo’s house didn’t work either. (He was honestly surprised by that one, who in his right mind didn’t like skywriting?).

One day, he got something in return. His doves came back to him with a simple piece of notebook paper. Kaito opened it, excited to read if his favorite critic had already forgiven him only to read ‘You’re annoying, stop.’ And on the other side of the paper as a _brutality_ ‘Your soup is not even good.’

Kaito’s spirit died that day. So did his hopes on his cooking skills.

That’s when he got an idea. Summer started a week ago, and Hakuba came with it. Quickly, Kaito dialed his number and pressed the phone against his ear.

“Hello?” came Hakuba’s voice through the phone.

“Are you still up on that wingman offer?”

* * *

It was the third day without finding anything KID-related in his house and Shinichi was beginning to hope the thief had given up. Even his mood had improved, especially after the week he spent in Osaka with Hattori. He had bullied Shinichi into forgetting the thief, the whole soulmates deal, and forced him to focus on its logic instead—or rather the lack of it. Overall, it was a pleasant week, even if the reason behind the trip was a serial killer. (Okay, the trip was better _because_ of the triple murder. He hadn’t had a case that good in _ages_ ).

KID had still managed to send him gifts that week, but Hattori enjoyed the chocolates KID sent so Shinichi thought nothing of it. Besides, if he thought about it, soulmates really were as illogical as he had first thought.

Life, for once, was actually smiling at him. He even got an invitation to lunch with Hakuba to exchange theories about the most recent unsolvable locked room murder. The case remained unsolvable because it happened in another prefecture, and neither Hakuba, Hattori or himself had been invited to help solve it. Kogoro was working on it though. Shinichi’s hopes were proportionally low.

Shinichi prided himself on being as punctual as a clock. Hakuba, on the contrary, prided himself on being always early. When Shinichi got to the little café they selected in a halfway point between Ekoda and Beika, Hakuba was already there.

Shinichi sat in front of Hakuba. They had a table at the back of the café, near the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was that the table was too big for two people. “I’m sorry, did you wait long?”

“Not at all.” Hakuba smiled at him calmly. “I actually brought a friend with me, I hope you don’t mind. He wanted to meet you; you could say he’s sort of a fanboy of yours.”

Shinichi didn’t like Hakuba’s expression, like he knew something Shinichi didn’t. It put him on edge. At least that explained the big table.

“Who’s your friend?” He asked, looking around.

He heard a voice from behind. “Kuroba Kaito, pleased to meet you.”

An unpleasant shudder went down his back. The voice was too familiar, even if the name he associated it to wasn’t the same. He stood up, pushed the chair back with the impulse and picked up his things in the same movement.

“Nope, I’m not doing this.”

It all made sense, and he was a little bit ashamed he didn’t figure it out sooner. Of course he wasn’t the only detective on KID’s side. KID could never out-smart Hakuba otherwise. Not for so long.

“We’ll have to take a raincheck on this lunch.” Shinichi’s voice was grave and clearly mad. Hakuba nodded, probably understanding this scenario was most likely going to happen ever since he made the invitation for lunch. “Do tell your friend to stay away from me.”

He left without looking once at KI- Kuroba. He was angry. Angry at Hakuba and angry at KID. Mostly at KID. How dare he keep bothering him when Shinichi had made clear time and again that he wanted nothing to do with the thief?

Shinichi stormed out of the little café and never looked back. He missed the defeated look on Kaito’s face, and the way Kaito dramatically planted his face on the table. Most importantly, he missed Kaito’s blue eyes.

“I’m so fucked.”

“Indeed you are.”

The waitress came with Hakuba’s cappuccino. He drank it calmly, waiting patiently for his friend to stop his drama. It didn’t take more than ten seconds.

“You are a terrible wingman,” Kaito proclaimed. He sat straight and stared accusingly at his friend. Hakuba rolled his eyes.

“I told you this wouldn’t work.”

“I had to try!”

“You would have more luck convincing Inspector Nakamori not to arrest you, than you have convincing Kudo to listen to you.”

At that, Kaito dropped his head on the table again. Hakuba covered his amused smirk with his mug.

“I hate you so much.”

“No more than Kudo hates you.”

Ouch.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day together. Against all odds, Hakuba thought of Kaito as a friend, and even if he teased him all day, the long-term plan was to cheer him up during the day. Kaito knew that, too, even if none of them spoke it out loud. When the night came, they headed to a bar. Hakuba, being nineteen and a foreigner, had no trouble buying drinks for them both.

“Are you going back to London after the summer?”

“Probably not. My dad has been asking me to stay on a daily basis.”

“Bummer.”

Hakuba frowned. “If I’m such a bother, pay me for the drink so I can go home.”

Kaito laughed nervously, scratching his nape. “I don’t have any money.”

Hakuba sighed, shaking his head. Kaito finished his drink in two big gulps as if to say ‘oops, sorry, it’s gone and I can’t pay you back’. They drank for a while. When they left, they were both a little bit tipsy. Hakuba’s driver picked him up, but Kaito refused the offer to drop him off near his home.

Knowing him, Kaito was going to do something stupid. Sadly, Hakuba wouldn’t have the pleasure to see it firsthand.

* * *

The door opening, followed by a loud thump and a series of murmured ‘shits’ were enough for Shinichi to abandon his book on the library and head to the front door. There, lying gracelessly on the ground face down was KID. Or well, Kuroba, since he wasn’t in the usual KID attire. His hair was messier than Shinichi remembered.

“I’m sorry.” The thief murmured, face still planted against the floor. “My entrances haven’t been the greatest lately.”

Shinichi snorted and crossed his arms. He was standing halfway through the hallway to the door.

“I can see that.”

Kaito was still a little tipsy, but the alcohol was wearing down faster than he expected, and he was beginning to regret his drunken impulse. Honestly this was a terrible idea, his reflexes weren’t fast enough to avoid Shinichi’s kick or dart. If the detective decided to attack him, Kaito was screwed, that’s why he had decided against this plan on the first place. Before his courage evaporated and this risky visit was for nothing, he got up from the floor, sat up with determination and looked his soulmate in the eyes. Blue eyes met blue eyes.

Kaito could tell the precise moment when Shinichi added two and two together. Surprise flashed in his eyes, followed by hurt and finally settling on repressed fury. He turned around to give his back to the thief.

“Get out of my house before I arrest you.” Shinichi was walking away, so Kaito hurried to remove his shoes and follow him inside.

“I need to talk to you first.”

Shinichi stopped so abruptly, Kaito almost bumped into him. When he turned, he could see Shinichi’s expression was cold and hostile, filled with sharp harshness and resent.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“There is.” Before Shinichi could turn around, Kaito grabbed his wrist to stop him from walking away. With the alcohol wearing down, he felt raw and exposed, but most of all it stung to know he was the reason for Shinichi’s distress. He caused it. He put that expression on his face and caused the hurt he knew Shinichi must’ve been feeling.

“What could there possibly be to talk about? I get what’s going on. You never wanted me to find out we’re soulmates. It’s fine.”

“It’s not that! I…”

“I said it’s fine.”

Shinichi looked down and refused to make eye contact. He didn’t want to see Kuroba’s eyes again. The first time he thought he saw them a little over three months ago, on the rooftop, his world crumbled around him. He started to doubt everything, every little thing and interaction he and KID shared before that fateful night. It hurt, it hurt to know that the guy he had inexplicably fallen for wasn’t meant to be his; but it hurt even more to know he _was_. All that time he spent trying to find his soulmate, trying to find the person who _supposedly_ was better for him than KID ever would, and finding _no one_ \- It was all for nothing.

It hurt to see his eye on Kuroba’s face, because it meant Kuroba had known all along and never bothered to tell him. It meant that Kuroba didn’t want him. It meant that Kuroba would rather keep the secret to sustain the thrill of the chase without having to commit to being soulmates.

Why else would KID keep the secret for so long? There was no other explanation that made sense.

His eyes were burning.

A soft, warm hand raised his chin. Shinichi was forced to meet Kuroba’s eyes, the same familiar blue combination on his face. Shinichi couldn’t decide if he felt more like crying or punching him.

“Please. Let me explain.” His voice was soft, irradiating a calmness Shinichi couldn’t feel. His expression was raw, vulnerable. Shinichi didn’t trust himself not to cry if he tried to speak, so he nodded. Kuroba beamed a little. “It was all my fault. I did something stupid and I put you at risk. I had to break the curse because if I didn’t you’d die, and I had to stay away from you in the meanwhile.”

Shinichi blinked. “You’ll have to be more specific on that.”

Kuroba frowned slightly, trying to get his thoughts together. “Okay okay, I’ll start from the beginning. I have a friend who happens to be a witch-“

“A witch?” Shinichi interrupted.

“Yes, It’s weird I know, I didn’t believe it either until…” he paused, and looked significantly at Shinichi. “Well, you know. She told me the gem I stole was cursed, the curse would hurt and eventually kill whoever the thief treasures the most. And that’s you, tantei-kun. My soulmate.”

Kuroba’s earnest expression made the lump on Shinichi’s throat come back. The teen kept talking.

“It was the one that did shine under the moonlight, remember? It wasn’t the red shine of pandora, but a rainbow one.”

“I remember,” Shinichi answered, lowkey proud of himself for keeping his voice straight and unfaltering. The pieces were starting to come together. “I tripped down the stairs when you gave it to me. And then it kept getting worse, I thought it was just me.”

Shinichi grimaced. Kuroba flushed slightly in shame.

“It wasn’t just you.”

Shinichi shrugged. “Perhaps my terrible luck transferred from walking in on murders everywhere I go, to hurting myself.”

“The witch said that normally the thief’s soulmate would be dead a month or so after the theft. You survived this long because we didn’t saw each other that much, it sort of made the curse slow-acting. It’s my fault you got shot, the witch warned me, but I didn’t believe it until that night. After that I had to stay away from you to save you.”

“So, the kiss-” Shinichi paused, flushing slightly. “You weren’t disgusted…?”

“No!” Kuroba interceded, fast as lightning. “Not at all. I would love to kiss you again.”

At that, they both blushed. Their faces were red and kept getting redder the more they stared at each other. Eventually, Kuroba lowered his eyes to Shinichi’s mouth and instinctively licked his own lips with the tip of his tongue. Noticing his own actions, his eyes widened in surprise and he stepped back in a hurry. He hadn’t let go of Shinichi’s wrist until then.

Kaito cleared his throat, nervously scratching his nape. “It took me a while to find the gem again because it got moved to London. So… yeah. I’m sorry about- about everything.”

Shinichi briefly considered the new information he had just been given. Believing in a curse was far from what his logic demanded of him. It was unreal. But Kaito seemed to believe in it, and once you have eliminated the impossible… “That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me sooner.”

“Back when you were Conan, you never hinted that you were interested. I figured you knew, oh great Detective of the East.”

Shinichi looked away. “I wasn’t interested back then. I didn’t even _believe_ in soulmates.” He paused, debating whether or not to ask his next question. “This whole time you thought I knew and wasn’t interested in you?”

Kaito looked sheepish when he answered. “Kind of, yeah. That’s why I started wearing brown contacts. Again, sorry about that.”

Shinichi had that same sharp and clever expression he had while he was on a case. The one he got when he put the pieces together to come to a conclusion, smart and bright. Kaito loved it. “In your weird logic, I guess it makes sense. I’m still mad at you, though. You deceived me to think we weren’t soulmates. Do you know how that made me feel? I couldn’t even _imagine_ having someone else as my soulmate,” he accused. “You made me fall for you and then you made me think you belonged to someone else.”

“I’m sorry. I was trying to protect you?” Kaito offered.

“I can protect myself.” Shinichi crossed his arms. “You could’ve told me about the curse.”

“Please, you would’ve tried to solve it yourself and we needed to stay away,” Kaito remarked, amused. Shinichi didn’t deny it.

The silence between them stretched for a few seconds while the tension between them slowly faded. Kaito felt relieved that Shinichi had finally listened to him, and Shinichi was just glad to know his deduction was right and Kaito was indeed his soulmate.

“So,” Kaito began, walking slowly towards Shinichi with a grin. “You said you fell for me?”

The blush was back on Shinichi’s face with full intensity. “So what?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to clarify I fell for you first. I can’t let you think you win this round, can I, Detective?” Kaito stopped mere inches away from his face. Being that close, Shinichi could see clear as day the little grey freckles on Kaito’s left eye, the ones he recognized in his right. Swiftly, Shinichi leaned forward and joined their lips together in a kiss. A soft, calm, beautiful kiss that tasted like coffee and sake. It should have been gross, but it wasn’t.

Kaito groaned softly and drew Shinichi closer by the waist. Shinichi smirked in the kiss, and rested his hands on Kaito’s shoulders. There was no rush, they had all the time in the world ahead of them, and Shinichi would make sure to make up for the time they had already lost. When they broke the kiss to get some air, Shinichi left one last kiss on Kaito’s cheek.

“No, but I won that one.”

Still holding his soulmate close, Kaito grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it! I'm really happy with this story, and I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Besides, I'm a sucker for soulmates au, I just /had/ to write this story.  
> The bigbang was so much fun, and I want to thank everyone who also participated for their contribution in making it as fun as it was!  
> I've been dying to post this chapter ever since I posted the first one, but I managed to hold on until now, lol.  
> Let me know what you guys think!


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